Another year, another Independence Day, another day of “fascist” violence and/or police provocations, as well as media manipulation.

Thus can the events of this year’s independence day in Poland, on 11 November, be summarised. While Britain was solemnly giving respect to its war dead with two minutes of silence and by laying wreaths of poppies at monuments (apart from the small number of teenagers trying to “act cool” by joining Islamists in burning them), and other countries had their own independence days marking the day of the armistice in 1918 — which, together with the Treaty of Versailles, redrew the maps of Europe — Poland celebrated its Independence Day, once again, in its own unique fashion.

In Warsaw, the event involved a host of ceremonies, marches, as well as an “Independence Run” of 10km through the streets of Warsaw (with the contestants wearing either white or red T-shirts to make a giant Polish flag visible from the air). The biggest event, however, was the Independence March, described by the media as “fascist”. This proved also to be the most eventful — and not for good reasons.

But first, a little background on the event in Warsaw:

The admittedly far-right “National-radical camp” (Oboz Narodowo-Radykalny, ONR) and all-Polish youth (Mlodziez Wszechpolska, MW) have for years organised a march through Warsaw to honour the day of independence. In the past, these contained some unabashedly questionable slogans against Jews and other minorities. The (far smaller) anti-fascist camp in retaliation held “blockades” of the march, in the tradition of “anti-fascist” blockades in Germany and other countries. In recent years however, such extreme rhetoric had ceased to be the case, and the march organising committee had successfully drawn members from a wide spectrum of folk groups, war veterans, right-wing publicists and, for some time, even a popular pop singer. Large numbers of football fans, having a grudge against the government over a clampdown — after they had openly criticised government actions — also started to join.

In retaliation, and perhaps as a sign of their increasing desperation, the “anti-fascists” invited members of the German Antifa to join the blockade in 2011. Word started spreading in Poland about the reputation of Antifa units, while people were incensed to hear that German youths were coming to Warsaw to “counter fascism” by blockading a march in the city, in which many war veterans from the Warsaw Rising against the Nazis also took part. Hence the 2011 march was the biggest yet, with a target of 11,000, but with an estimated 20,000-30,000 attending. It also resulted in violent confrontations with police and the leftist blockade. It was suggested that those instigating violence with police were themselves police provocateurs (a tactic used during Communist days) — in one video, a cameraman being “attacked” by someone in the march, wearing a white balaclava, was pictured a few minutes later calmly talking to others wearing similar white balaclavas, who had been at the forefront of the violence against police a few minutes later. Nonetheless — provocation, or no provocation — the effect was that media had, almost exclusively, focused on the small sections of the march causing violence, while totally ignoring the thousands marching peacefully.

This year’s march followed a number of other recent marches, mostly organised by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) opposition, and drawing up to 100,000 people. So it was expected that this year’s Independence March would also dwarf its predecessor the year before. And it did… In addition to the previously mentioned National-Radical Camp and All-Polish Youth, clubs from the newspaper Gazeta Polska (most famous for being virulently anti-government, and for meticulously investigating the 2010 Smolensk Disaster for signs that it was deliberately caused by the Russian government) also took part, bringing over 10,000 members onto the streets. As I had many other events on my mind, I was not set on going to this year’s march, however the night before the march I had attended a “patriotic song” event, at which most were Gazeta Polska readers, and were going to the march. Recalling last year’s events, I decided to join this year’s march with my girlfriend and other friends whom I arranged to meet there.

We went to the section with the Gazeta Polska readers, where there were many banners and slogans highlighting the Smolensk disaster, as well as highly against Prime Minister Tusk (“Take Tusk — give us the black boxes!” being a memorable one), in addition to patriotic songs being sung and more reliable chants, such as “God, Honour, Fatherland” — a slogan of Polish soldiers during World War II). However, we were stuck in the section in front of the Palace of Culture unable to march, as police had, predictably, stopped the march from going ahead. This was due to pitched battles with police that were being held. As it turned out, at the forefront of these were “marchers” wearing olive balaclavas. Later, units of such marchers were filmed marching with police. (a collection of photos of these provocateurs may be seen here).

For one hour we were unable to march, blocked in by police; however, then the march proceeded. Strangely, all media were grouped around the starting place of the march in front of the Palace of Culture — where the riots took place. Later in the march, when the procession was taking place peacefully, we only encountered Trwam Television (a niche Catholic TV station opposed to the government). No other TV stations were present. On we went, the group chanting anti-government slogans such as “Rzad pod sad” — “government in front of the courts”, and also encouraging police to “drop their batons, and join”.

Later, perhaps ominously, I had seen a large group of riot police. But behind them, also a column of plain-clothes police agents wearing olive balaclavas. Very similar to the olive balaclava worn by the stone-thrower at 2:34 in the film here. In the background, there are even chants of “police provocation”!

And there were many other eyewitness accounts of masked men appearing from behind police lines, to throw stones at the uniformed police… To which the police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and brutal force. Even against 60-year-olds, and young children.

Naturally, the media only showed the violence — yet again, without a minute of footage from the march. In reality, for the vast majority of the people there, and for the vast majority of the time, this was what the march looked like this. It’s a 27-minute film from the offices of Fronda.pl — a right-wing Catholic publication and popular internet site whose offices happened to be situated above one of the avenues that the march took place on. Gazeta Wyborcza, the largest-selling (and reliably left/liberal) newspaper, had said that there were 20,000 people in the march. From the video above, one may judge for himself how true this was.

The same paper claimed that 15,000 had attended the “rival” president’s march. However, from photos of the march, one blogger who took the trouble to count found only 500 had attended. Other media estimated around 2,000-4,000.

The title: “Only a handful of anti-fascists. This disproportion is scary!”

At the end of the march, the leader of the national-radicals said that they wanted to “overthrow” the post-1989 system (composed, to a large part, of ex-communist agents) and to “scare leftists”, and had intended to set up “self-defence groups”, for the purposes of “defending future marches”. The media reliably stirred up a storm, claiming that the march organisers were inciting to violence. The Democratic Left Alliance reacted by calling for the National-Radical Camp to be banned. Given how they themselves are the direct successors of the Polish Communist government, this could be seen as ironic, or even hypocritical, but it can also serve an accurate summary of the hypocrisy and double-standards evident in much of Polish public life and the media today.

6
comments:

Anonymous
said...

There is just one problem with this reality and its account here.

These are not "fascists." These are fascists. Fascists like in "Hitlerjugend." Worse, actually, for now they have the example of Hitler and his support orgs., to know what not to be or do. Since a picture is worth a 1000words, here goes:

It is a profound tragedy that the only serious opposition to the horror of the EU-Khalifate-Round Table axis should come from the horror of Nazizoid sieg-heiling yokels. A thinking Western dissenter, however militant and Catholic (e.g. Ann Barnhardt) has no choice but to say, a pox on both your houses.Takuan Seiyo

@Jolie RougeYou are 100% right. I have written before about the resurgence of Nazism in several variations in Scandinavia, and predicted that the more the demented Body Snatchers tighten the lid of their lawfare, disfranchisement and other persecutions of autochthon Whites, the more Nazism will grow. Add to this the fiscal cliff, and you can actually see Europe AND America as the Weimar Republic circa 1928, with big chances that history will repeat itself.

But what's the point of replacing lying evil with another lying evil? Lies cannot last. Evil cannot last. We are not victims of some uncontrollable dialectical forces. We are the forces. The way to fight the lying evil of the Body Snatchers whether in Warsaw or Baltimore is with the bold truth, carefully vetted as the truth. Wearing Brownshirt uniforms, sieg-heiling and posting placards of Jews as the scourge of the world is not the road to truth.Takuan Seiyo

Yes, there's 1 or 2 "yokels" in the National-Radical camp who Sieg Heil... Just like there's 1 or 2 idiots in the EDL that do the same. Just like Geert Wilders' party has xenophobes & criminals. Just like the Tea Party has "birthers" and "loons"... Do you think, Takuan Seiyo, that a movement will EVER form to oppose the EU-khalifate New World Order that's completely free of all these things? Do you think that this New World Order would LET it happen?!

a clue: eyewitness accounts from the Independence March talk of "hooligans" joining the march from BEHIND police lines, before chucking rocks, and other items, at those same police. The system KNOWS how to blacken its opponents, if need be...

No matter how many ordinary, non-yokel and non-sieg-heiling protesters there happen to be... (or maybe even helping Jews, like Zofia Kossak-Szczucka of the National-Radical Camp during the war)

You live too close to these things and seem to have lost perspective. These are not one or two yokels, but the entire movement.

Are the symbols, the uniforms the work of one or two yokels? Can you count more than one or two in the compendium of photos I linked to before? Let me give you another one.

Is this placard (captions says “Fascism: We Are Worse”) the work of one or two? Was there perhaps a reason why Pilsudski outlawed the OWR precursor of these Nazizoids already in 1934, before the khalifate and EUSSR were born?

Your citing of Kossak-Szczucka is irrelevant. My mother’s life was saved twice during the war by occupant German soldiers in uniform; on the second occasion Waffen SS. Does this reflect on the goodness of the Waffen SS? Likewise, any speculation on the existence of individuals with fascist/antisemitic tendencies at EDL or other Western freedom parties is besides the point. No doubt such individuals exist, but the organizations themselves, their leaders, their platforms are not in that vein. And if they were, they would never have succeeded in drawing the measure of public support that they have.

And what’s this cocktail mixing Catholicism, Fascism, Nazi symbology, pathological Jew-hatred and skinhead fashions? If you think that the Western Far Right -- and Nazizoids aren’t the Far Right; they are the Far Left -- has any sympathy for such a strange brew? Or the Vatican? Let me give you just one clue: the Far Right supports Israel. Yet at this moment, a title on the NOP Web-page reads: “Bombs on Israel; at last” and shows the crossed flags of Poland and Palestine.

Being in opposition to evil does not mean that one has to condone or make allies with other evil. Non-toxic resistance organizations like Fronda are making a huge tactical mistake by participating in any enterprise in which NOP participates. I hope that this is being read by dissenters who have nothing to do with Poland, e.g. in GB and Sweden, for learning what not to do and how to not be is crucial to the chances of success of the opposition to the New World Order.

@Takuan Seiyo - the first time you wrote I was on a mobile device and could not view your photos.

But the first one you link to - here - shows a commemoration of the "assault on Myslenice" by Adam Doboszyński. While this seems to have been directed at Jews, Doboszynski was later a war hero against the Nazis rewarded with both French and Polish medals. So could one in any way group him together with the Nazis?

I am not sure what you mean by the "entire movement" being fascist... if you mean the ONR - then possibly. I am not too familiar with them - although there were no fascist banners that I saw at the march. Nor am I aware of any such banners being shown there.

Instead, the march was full of slogans like this (from last year's march): "Fascists and communists murdered Polish patriots". In keeping with the goal of the march to celebrate Polish independence and patriotism, while standing-up to leftist intimidation tactics.

There were also combatants from the Warsaw Rising present - would they support Nazis? Although the ONR may be very questionable (and people I have talked to since the march have also said this), I think there are many phrases here being put together: the ONR vs the March (of which ONR was only a part), and Nazis vs "Polish fascists" - who fought against the Nazis.